'Success' in Fallujah, Failure Elsewhere

BAGHDAD - Everyone saw it coming, only the U.S. forces did not: humanitarian
disaster in Fallujah, and stronger resistance against U.S. and allied occupying
forces all around Iraq.

The real face of the "success" of the U.S. military assault in Fallujah
is now beginning to present itself. Thousands of families remain trapped inside
Fallujah with no food, clean water, or medical assistance.

No one can say how many of the 1,200 "rebels" U.S. forces claim to
have killed inside Fallujah are civilians, or whether the death toll is higher.

The Iraqi Red Crescent Society, which is supported by the Red Cross and the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called the situation in Fallujah
a "big disaster."

The Iraqi Red Crescent has several teams of relief workers and doctors, and
truckloads of food waiting for the authorization from the U.S.-backed interim
government and the U.S. military, but they have not been allowed in.

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed grave concern
for the civilians left in the city. "All those taking part in the combat
have a responsibility to spare civilians and give access to the wounded,"
ICRC spokesman Rana Sidani said in a statement.

U.S. forces have said they will now carry out "humanitarian" tasks
on their own. It could be too late, going by the people's voices that are now
emerging.

Muna Salim, who managed to flee the city with her sister after the rest of
their family was killed by U.S. bombs, said Fallujah had turned from a battlefield
to a ghost town in recent days.

"Most families stayed inside their houses all the time," she said
after reaching Baghdad. "We were always very hungry because we didn't want
to eat our food or drink all of the water. We never knew if we would be able
to get more, so we tried to be careful." She could not bring herself to
talk of the killings.

"The Americans didn't care about us," said a young refugee who gave
his name only as Ahmed. He arrived in Baghdad with most of his family three
days back. "All the medical people left the city and the only people in
the city are Fallujans or from Ramadi or other cities who came to try to help
us."

People in Fallujah had been left helpless, he said. "Anyone who left their
house would either be shot by American snipers or recruited by the mujahedin,"
he said. "So we stayed inside most of the time and prayed. The more the
bombs exploded, the more we prayed and cried."

Ahmed says he did not expect to survive. "Every night we said good-bye
to one another because we expected to die," he said. "You could see
areas where all the houses were flattened, there was just nothing left. We could
get water at times, but there was no electricity ever."

U.S. forces had bombed families in their homes, he said. "Even those of
us who do not fight, we are suffering so much because of the U.S. bombs and
tanks. Can't they see this is turning so many people against them?"

The Iraqi resistance has taken control of many cities across Iraq following
the U.S. siege of Fallujah. Despite U.S. military claims of being in control
of Mosul in the north, al-Jazeera reported that the U.S. military, Iraqi police,
and National Guardsmen have disappeared from the streets, and armed men wearing
masks are wandering freely around.

A freelance journalist in the city told al-Jazeera on telephone from the city:
"The situation is very bad, there is no security, only armed resistance
groups on the streets, and it seems there is no government in Mosul." The
U.S. military says it has taken back control of Mosul police stations and other
areas. Iraqi rebels are now also in control of large areas of Ramadi, Samarra,
Haditha, Baquba, Hiyt, Qaim, Latifiyah, Taji, and Khaldiyah. Fighting has been
reported also in the Shia holy city Kerbala.

The uprising has spread across the capital as well. The districts al-Dora,
al-Amiriyah, Abu Ghraib, al-Adhamiya, and Khan Dhari are now largely controlled
by resistance fighters.

U.S. military vehicles have been damaged and destroyed near the city Hiyt.
Fighting has spread to the normally peaceful town Hilla, just south of Baghdad.

"The security situation there has gone from bad to worse," Ali Abdulla,
a 35-year-old carpenter from Hilla said. "You can hear the fighting all
around the city now, and the resistance is fighting against the Polish very
fiercely."

Abdulla said this was the first time there had been fighting between Polish
troops and resistance fighters.

Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, Dahr Jamail writes about the
effects of the US occupation on the people of Iraq, since the mainstream
media in the US has in large part, he believes, failed to do so.

Dahr has spent a total of 5 months in occupied Iraq, and plans
on returning in October to continue reporting on the occupation.
One of only a few independent reporters in Iraq, Dahr will be using
the DahrJamailIraq.com
website and mailing list to disseminate his dispatches and will
continue as special correspondent for Flashpoints Radio.

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